Before I start taper of Klonopin

I just joined forum and so grateful to have found it. Right now I am taking max of .5mg Klonopin daily but I take it as needed, no set time but it’s pretty ineffective no matter when I take it  But I am besieged with anxiety night and day with insomnia, sleeping only 2 hrs before awakening in sweats and burning hands, anxiety.

So my first question is: before I begin a taper, should I take the current dose at same time everyday?

I just joined forum and so grateful to have found it. Right now I am taking max of .5mg Klonopin daily but I take it as needed, no set time but it’s pretty ineffective no matter when I take it  But I am besieged with anxiety night and day with insomnia, sleeping only 2 hrs before awakening in sweats and burning hands, anxiety.

So my first question is: before I begin a taper, should I take the current dose at same time everyday?

Hi there!

Many folks have reported that it does seem to help having a consistent amount of benzo in your system prior to beginning a taper. From the symptoms you are describing and the "as needed" dosing, it sounds as if you may be experiencing interdose withdrawal. So it may be advantageous for you to start taking .5mg daily. If you feel better after a couple of weeks then begin a symptom based taper reducing 5-10% every 10-14days 

Hopelives,

Spacing at regular intervals thru the day has worked for me. I have been tapering off Klonopin for just over a month. As you, prior to tapering I took "as needed".....rather than as prescribed.  Before starting I counted the pills left over from the prior month and roughly figured the number of pills I averaged per day. I estimated about 2mg per day so that's where I started.  As my body/blood level wasn't use to being regular, it took about 3 weeks at the 2 mg of Klonopin and it finally leveled off to bearable w/d symptoms.  At first I cut it and took 4 x .5 = 2.0 mg.  Meaning I spaced out 4 doses over the course of a day. One at 6am, 11am, 4pm, 9pm.  I was getting 4 hrs of sleep per night and was thankful.

After a couple of cuts I'm at 1.5mg/day = 3 doses x .5 over the course of the day. 6am, 2pm and 10pm.  After two weeks my blood level is consistent, the w/d is bearable and the last 2 nights my sleep has gotten better at 6 hrs per night.

In my opinion, regular dosing keeps the blood levels consistent.

I agree

stability then a plan to reduce at max ten %

Good luck

Dick